Portable winch



Jan. 2, 1968 F. G. REIGH 3,361,411

PORTABLE WINCH Filed Oct. 14, 1966 United States Patent 3,361,411 PORTABLE WINCH Franklin G. Reigh, 5248 Coke Ave., Lakewood, Calif. 90712 Filed Oct. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 586,780 4 Claims. (Cl. 254-147) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A frame capable of remaining static while being operated upon by a relatively large horizontal force which employs depending surface contactable members and a counter-rotating torque about said members.

This invention relates to a portable winch and more particularly to a winch which is mounted on a frame structure which allows for easy portability yet maintains maximum winch efiiciency.

In many situations it is desirable to employ a relatively strong pulling force to effect displacement of a material object. A few of such situations are: (1) the movement of vehicles (automobiles, trailers, etc.) from inaccessible areas, (2) the transporting of cumbersome loads such as logs, tree stumps, light machinery, etc., and (3) displacement of any object which is not readably movable along a flat or inclined plane. Winches per se were designed for this purpose and usually employs a mechanical advantage of at least 3 to 1. However, the winch itself must be attached to relatively fixed structure to allow the winching force to be effective. Such structure which is in common usage is a building or a portion thereof, a bed of a truck, or as commonly used in other portable Winches a tree or other readily available fixed structure.

It would be of great advantage to design a winch structure which would be operable on the earth itself, the earth functioning as the fixed object. Obviously, the earth is the most readily available fixed structure and such a winch would be highly desirable because of its applicability. Previous to this invention, winch structure that was designed for the earth had one main disadvantage which was that the maximum winching force was not sufficient to effect the desired movements. The lower the force the more limited the use of the winch.

This invention relates to a winch structure which can be applied directly to the earth and is yet capable of attaining a relatively high winching force. The invention is to be constructed in different sizes, the smallest siZe being capable of attaining a winching force of 600 pounds or greater. A winching force of 1500 pounds could be easily attainable by a slightly larger size model. The main advantages of this invention are; simple strong construction but yet light in weight to give the advantage of easy portability, the structure is self anchoring due to the application of the winch force, being operable by a single person, the winching structure is collapsible for easy transportability, operates with maximum efficiency on mud, sand, ice and snow as well as dry earth. Other objects and advantages will become obvious as the description of the invention proceeds.

Briefly this invention includes a conventional Winch mounted on a slender body member, the body member having a front and a back end. A transverse member is connected to the body member at the back end which is for the purpose of having the operator stand thereon. At the front end of the body member, two, spaced transverse- 1y, inclined, depending legs are attached thereto. The extremities of the legs are adapted to be easily coactable with the substance of the surface upon which the structure is employed, i.e. if the surface is easily penetratable, the legs are beveled for easy penetration. The line of the 3,361,411 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 winch is to be passable through a guiding means located near the front end of the body member.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. This invention itself, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the invention in operating position;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the invention in the collapsed, portable position; and

FIGURE 3 is a force diagram of the structure of this invention which helps to depict the novelty of this invention.

In FIGURE 1 there is shown the structure 10 of the invention and the object to be moved or load 12. A winch 14 having a line 16 and a crank handle 18 is shown attached to the structure 10, but it is to be noted that the winch per se forms no part of this invention and is commercially available. Winch 14 is fixedly secured by any conventional means to an upstanding base 2% which is permanently attached as by welding to body member 22. The height of the base 20 is chosen to allow clearance for the crank handle 18 and yet maintain the line 16 in a near horizontal direction. Member 22 is shown of tubular construction which is to receive therein extension portion 24. Extension 24 is adjustable in a telescoping relationship within member 22, the extension 24 being securable by a pin 26 in an extended and a non-extended position. Attached to the protruding end portion of the extension 24 is a traverse member 28 which is to extend approximately five inches on each side of extension 24. The function of the extension member 24 and transverse member 28 will be explained further on in the specification.

Located near the forward end of member 22 is an upstanding guide 30 which includes a ring 32. The line 16 of the winch 14 is passed through ring 32, the obvious function of the guide 30 being to maintain the desired alignment of the line 16. Attached to the forward extremity of member 22 is a transverse torque bar 34, the bar 34 extending an equal distance from each side of member 22. Preferably bar 34 is of square configuration however, other polygonal configurations or even circular could be employed. Coactable with each end of bar 34 is a depending leg 36, each leg 36 having one end constructed of tubular portion 38 made to matingly telescope with bar 34. The other end of each leg 36 is beveled as shown at 49. The advantage of the square configuration of bar 34 is easily seen by a cursory examination of FIGURES 1 and 2. With the legs 36 located so that they extend in a downward direction (almost perpendicular to member 22) (FIGURE 1) they are in the operative position. But the legs 36 can be removed and repositioned so the legs extend in the upward direction (or in the opposite direction) (FIGURE 2). With the legs 36 in this position, the structure of the invention forms a more compact unit to facilitate portability.

The operation of the invention is as follows: The operator, with the invention in the collapsed position of FIGURE 2, first extends extension 24 to the extended position. Next the legs 36 are positioned in the downward direction as shown in FIGURE 1. The invention is then firmly positioned upon the earth in the vicinity of where the load is to eventually rest. The line 16 of the winch 14 is extended and connected to the load 12. Now the invention is ready for operation. The operator places his weight upon the transverse member 28 and begins to turn crank 18 thereby reeling in the line 16. It is to be remembered that the winch 14 is geared to a mechanical advantage which allows ease of cranking. Just prior to movement of load 12, depending legs 36 penetrate the earth to firmly anchor the invention in place and also act as the fulcrum of the pulling force. It has been found that infirm, dry earth a penetration of one-half inch to one inch is suflicient. In mud or sand a penetration of one and one-half to two inches is usually necessary. Also, it is obvious that the penetration varies with the applied pulling force, i.e. the greater the force the deeper the penetration. Once the legs 36 are stabilized the additional applied force will cause the load 12 to move toward the invention.

In FIGURE3 there is shown a force diagram which clearly demonstrates the advantage of the present invention. The angle represented by intersecting lines 42 and 44 show the line diagram of the structure of the invention. Point A represents the point of contact of the bar 28 with the earth. Point B represents the point of contact of the line 16 with the guide ring 32. Point D represents the contact of the legs 36 with the earth. The operators weight and line of action is depicted at F while the pulling force and line of action therefore is depicted at P The fulcrum of the invention is established by the legs 36 and is shown as point 0. The shortest or perpendicular distance between point and the line of action of F is shown as X while the perpendicular distance between the line .of action of F and point 0 is depicted as Y. The forces at point 0 need not be considered as the summation of (S) of moments (M) about that point are only to be considered. The reasoning of such will not be explained here but can be found in any available book on dynamics. Taking a (S) of movements about point 0 in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction we arrive at:

Since it is known that per each device of the invention that X is constant and that Y is substantially constant, the pulling force (F i.e. as F increases so must F to maintain the invention in the stabilized position. The ratio of X to Y is chosen to be at least three and one-half to one so that a 150 pound operator can create a pulling force of 525 pounds. However, the ratio can be more or less depending on the intended use of the invention. As is seen from the above equation it is desirable for the ratio to be increased and such can be accomplished by the decrease of the value of the distance Y. However, the value of Y must be a certain amount to cause the invention to anchor itself by suflicient penetration of legs 36. Without the penetration of legs 36 the structure of the invention would creep and the load 12 would remain stationary. The value of Y is chosen by the selecting of the angle formed between the legs 36 and the body member 22 in combination with the distance X. This value of Y should be chosen with the line of direction of the force F in the maximum position or in a horizontal direction (parallel to the earth). It is felt to be obvious that the subject invention will not operate with the direction of the force F pointing any sufficient amount upwards (relative to the earth). The direction must be parallel, or an angle of a lesser amount, to the plane of the earth upon which the invention is positioned. However, a small upward angle once the legs 36 have been stabilized will not affect the operating effectiveness.

Various modifications of the invention are felt to be obviously seen but not specifically shown. For instance the invention is designed for a penetratable material, however, bevels 40 could be replaced by friction surfaces capable of holding the structure on surfaces such as cement, asphalt, etc. Also, if it is desired to substantially increase the mechanical advantage of the invention as by substantially increasing the extending of extension 24, winch 14 and base 20 may be adjustably movable to be able to repositionable upon extension 24 and then securely fastened thereon. The upstanding guide means 30 may be made adjustable vertically to provide the necessary parallel to the earth line of direction of force F The various features and advantages of the invention are thought to be clear from the foregoing description. Various other features and advantages not specifically enumerated will undoubtedly occur to those versed in the art, as likewise will many variations and modifications of the embodiment of the invention illustrated, all of which may be achieved without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A portable winch structure which is to rest upon surface comprising:

a longitudinal body member having a fore end and an aft end, said aft end to be in contact with said surface, the axial length of said body member being in a direction which is substantially more parallel to said surface than vertical thereto;

a winch being mounted upon said body member and intermediate said fore and said raft end, said winch being capable of creating a pulling force through a line upon an exterior load,.said load also resting upon said surface and being displaced from the area defined by said winch structure, the direction of said pulling force con-forming substantially parallel to the plane of said surface;

a leg assembly being attached to said fore end of said body member with the free end of said leg assembly being adapted to contact said surface, the axial length of said leg assembly being more vertical with repect to said surface than the axial length of said body member;

said aft end being provided with means to facilitate location of an operator during operation of said winch, whereby the operators body weight provides a counter-torque which is to counteract'a torque about the point of contaction of said leg assembly with said surface which tends to displace said aft end of said body member from said surface.

2. A portable winch structure which is to rest upon a surface comprising:

a longitudinal body member having a fore end and an aft end, said aft end to be in contact with said surface, the axial length of said body member being in a direction which is substantially more parallel to said surface than vertical thereto;

a winch being mounted upon said body member and intermediate said fore and said aft end, said winch being capable of creating a pulling force through a line upon an exterior load, said load also resting upon said surface and being displaced from the area defined by said winch structure, the direction of said pulling force conforming substantially parallel to the plane of said surface;

a leg assembly being attached to said fore end of said body member with the free end of said leg assembly being adapted to contact said surface, the axial.

the connection of said leg assembly to said fore end of said body member includes a torque bar, said bar being perpendicularly fixed with respect to the axial length of said body member and also said bar being substantially parallel to said surface, said body member being attached to said bar at approximately the mid-point of its longitudinal length thereof, said leg assembly comprises two separate leg members, there being one leg member attached to said torque bar on each side of the body member connection.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein:

the extremities of said leg members are pointed whereby the leg members are capable of penetrating said surface.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein:

said torque bar is of an equal sided polygonal cross section, a portion of each of said leg members includes a correspondingly polygonal shaped opening capable of coacting with said torque bar in at least two positions, whereby said leg members can be operative position to make a more compact unit oi the apparatus to facilitate transportability.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,902,370 3/1933 Lavandeira 254-135 2,985,430 5/1961 Greenwood 254-142 3,072,382 1/1963 Jones 254145 3,203,672 8/1965 Santos 254168 FOREIGN PATENTS 51,833 11/1932 Norway.

EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

repositioned upon said torque bar other than in the 16 H. C. HORNSBY, Assistant Examiner. 

